Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is the concept of a “secondary” or “bonus” game that may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game, which is entered upon either a “mystery” event independent of an outcome displayed in the basic game or a “start-bonus” event dependent upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome in the basic game. Generally, bonus games provide a greater expectation of winning than the basic game and may also be accompanied with more attractive or unusual video displays and/or audio. Because the bonus game concept offers tremendous advantages in player appeal and excitement relative to other known games, and because such games are attractive to both players and operators, there is a continuing need to develop gaming machines with new types of bonus games to satisfy the demands of players and operators.
Another concept that has been employed is the use of a progressive jackpot. In the gaming industry, a “progressive game” involves collecting coin-in data from participating gaming machines (e.g., slot machines), contributing a percentage of the coin-in to a jackpot amount, and awarding that jackpot amount to a player upon the occurrence of a certain jackpot-won event. The percentage of the coin-in is determined prior to any result being achieved and is independent of any result. A jackpot-won event may be a “mystery” event independent of an outcome displayed at a participating gaming machine, or may occur when a “progressive winning position” is achieved at a participating gaming machine. If the gaming machine is a slot machine, a progressive winning position may, for example, correspond to alignment of progressive jackpot reel symbols along a certain payline. The initial progressive jackpot is a predetermined minimum startup or “reset” amount. That jackpot amount, however, progressively increases as players continue to play the participating gaming machines without winning the jackpot. Further, when several gaming machines are linked together such that several players at several gaming machines compete for the same jackpot, the jackpot progressively increases at a much faster rate, leading to even greater player excitement.
In existing gaming terminals, the basic game remains the same and thus players over time often lose interest in the same game and thus seek other entertainment. Due to the progressive gaming features of present games the gaming terminal must remain fixed in its capabilities. Thus, operators must continually replace gaming terminals with new gaming terminals running different games having different themes, settings, bonuses etc. in order to maintain player interest. Such replacement is expensive and time consuming.
Another solution which has been used is to distribute wagering game content to existing game terminals. Wagering game machine operators now manually deliver the content to an existing game machine by replacing existing media, such as the ROM, flash RAM or CD-ROM with new media containing updated game content. However, for casinos owning many gaming machines, this process is still laborious and expensive.
Gaming machines may be configured to operate as “stand-alone” units (that may or may not be coupled to a backroom computer) where the outcome of game play is “locally determined.” Gaming machines may also be configured as part of a server-based gaming network where the outcome of game play may be either locally determined or “centrally determined.” For example, a gaming machine located in a bar, a convenience store, a riverboat, or an airplane, may operate as a stand-alone unit, while a gaming machine located in a traditional casino may operate as part of a server-based gaming network within the casino.
The server-based gaming networks typically include a number of gaming terminals, communicatively coupled via a dedicated (i.e., non-public) communication network to one or more server(s). Because of their versatility, server-based gaming networks enable a casino to augment the traditional “basic” game play with enhancements such as progressives, community bonus games, tournaments, etc. Server-based gaming network configurations also enable access to all types of gaming terminal data including performance data, player tracking data, accounting data, security data, and maintenance data, to name a few.
In cases where a gaming proprietor owns multiple casinos distributed over a large geographical area, individual casinos may be linked together via a large dedicated communication network. In addition, one or more servers in an individual casino may be communicatively coupled via the dedicated communication network to one or more remote database servers, thereby enabling the gaming proprietor to gather gaming data and operate and maintain the gaming network at one convenient location.
Accordingly, what is needed is a gaming machine that may be updated to provide new game content with community event features. Another need is for a gaming system which offers different games having eligibility for community events according to player demand. Another need exists for a gaming system which offers community events which are linked to gaming machines independent from game mechanics. Yet another need is for a gaming system which allows different games offering community based events to be loaded onto gaming machines.